


Flight

by BisexualDisastaur



Series: #FEGenWeek2020 [7]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Genre: Absent Parents, Banter, Correcting past mistakes, Family Bonding, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Leonster's based on Ireland, Lord Quan the Swan, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Rated teen because eldigan gets saucy and drops an f bomb, fairytales - Freeform, me: staring at my -atk 3 musketeers, yalls weren't very good parents were you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BisexualDisastaur/pseuds/BisexualDisastaur
Summary: Quan wants to be there for his children. Easier said than done.
Relationships: Cian | Quan & Altena (Fire Emblem), Siglud | Sigurd & Eltshan | Eldigan & Cian | Quan
Series: #FEGenWeek2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709977
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27
Collections: Fire Emblem Gen Week 2020





	Flight

“Father, I swear on my life that I will not let Natasha eat you.”

“Absolutely not.” Quan replied firmly. “I refuse to anywhere near those creatures. I won’t stop you from partnering with them, Altena, but I will not.”

Altena nearly stomped her foot in frustration. “They’re not dangerous. They only get agitated and violent if their rider is, which I am _not.”_

“I know, I know.” Quan sighed, pressing a hand against his forehead. “But I… Look, Altena…”

“I just want to show you what it’s like to fly.” Altena bit her lip.

“I doubt your wyvern would be able to hold us both,” Quan attempted to joke, but fell silent at the look on his daughter’s face. “I’m sure we can do other activities, right? Like… Tea? Would you like to join your mother and I for tea?”

Altena sighed. “Perhaps. I, uh… I have to go now, though. I’ll see you later, Father.”

“Altena, wait! Agh…” Quan turned away from his daughter’s fleeing back. “I messed up again.”

* * *

“I don’t know how you two do it.” Quan confessed quietly, sandwiched between Sigurd and Eldigan on the bench in the gardens. “Whatever connection I try to make with my children just… Fails.”

“Don’t fret, brother. It’s not your fault. It’s just, ah… She was young.”

“So was Seliph. So was Ares.”

“Ah, but Ares had Grahnye, and Sigurd doted on Seliph.” Eldigan sighed. “Let’s face it, Quan. You were so focused on the conflict between Thracia and Leonster that you passed that torch on your children. It was a conflict grounded into your very bloodline.”

“We all passed burdens to our children.”

“And that made them all a little fucked up, didn’t it?”

“Eldigan! Watch your language!” Sigurd scolded.

“Sorry, Ares must be rubbing off on me.” Eldigan sighed. “This reminds me of our academy days…”

“Everything reminds you of our academy days.” Quan noted.

“Well, it’s similar. Just training in a sort of pseudo-peace. None of us see battle much now, do we?”

“I do wonder why Kiran doesn’t deploy us.” Quan stared out towards the sunset, then shook his head. “Wait, we’re getting off topic.”

“What was the topic again?”

“I’m a terrible father.”

Sigurd hit his shoulder. “Stop. Don’t say that. You were an absent father, and it wasn’t your fault. You were dead.”

“I missed 17 years of my children’s lives.”

“We _all_ did. So go _fix_ it instead of moping to us.” Eldigan shoved him.

“I don’t know _how._ ”

“Alright, alright, stop arguing.” Sigurd soothed. “Quan, why not you start from the top. What happened today?”

“Altena offered to give me a ride on her wyvern. I said no, and offered to have a conversation with her over tea instead. I feel like that was a reasonable request.”

Eldigan groaned. “Quan… You realize that growing up as impoverished Thracian royalty, Altena probably doesn’t know how to communicate properly over tea?”

“What?”

“Quan,” Sigurd cut in, “Altena doesn’t know how to swim because whatever unpoisoned water the Thracians had, they had to conserve it. I doubt they would use it to hold tea parties. She probably felt uncomfortable.”

“Jumped the arrow, didn’t you.” Eldigan said dryly. “Well, makes sense. You both made each other uncomfortable, offering to do things without knowing the connotations behind them. She truly is your daughter.”

“Don’t tease me like that.” Quan leaned back, considering his words. “I never thought about it that way… I mean, I guess for us nobles…”

“Let’s be honest and just say we had very cushioned lives before a mad dragon decided our generation was the generation to get fu—”

“Eldigan!”

“Alright, alright…”

“So, what do I do now?” Quan prompted. “You two have similar situations, no? What do you do?”

“I spar with Ares, and eat meals with him.”

“I’m teaching Seliph how to ride a horse, and…” Sigurd rubbed the back of his neck, flushing. “I read out loud to him.”

“...”

“Don’t stare at me! He asked me to! A-And it’s mostly Deirdre who reads aloud to him!”

“That’s sweet.” Eldigan smirked. “And embarrassing. I never thought I would get blackmail material over you again.”

“You!”

Quan suddenly stood. “I have an idea.” He announced. “I’ll see you two later. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”

“That’s a low blow, brother.”

* * *

“Father!?” Altena stepped back from the doorway when she opened the door and saw him. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to apologize for my behavior today. What I said was insensitive. I should’ve considered how my actions would affect you before saying anything.”

“Um… S-Same.” His daughter awkwardly shifted from foot to foot before catching sight of what he held. “What’s that?”

“I just… Wanted to show this to you. Do you mind if I come in?”

“No.” She stepped fully into her room, finally settling on top of her bed while Quan sat in the chair by it. “What is it?”

Quan turned over the small book in his hands. “It’s a Leonster fairytale.” He said slowly. “It was your favorite when you were younger.”

“Really!?” Altena leaned forward in interest. “What is it about?”

 _“The Swans of Lir.”_ Quan read. “It’s a fairytale about two children being turned into swans by an evil stepmother, but their father finds out and spends his life living by the lake so he can be near his children. They eventually turn back and live their lives in happiness.”

“Oh. Sounds interesting.” Altena stretched out on her bed. “You can leave it here and I’ll read it.”

“Actually, I was hoping to read it to you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“...You’re right.” Quan loosened his grip on the book, but took a deep breath. “You’re right, but I missed the majority of your childhood. I want to make up for that now, in the time we have.”

Altena pursed her lips. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

“Ah, very well.” Altena flopped back down onto her bed. “Go ahead. I’m interested. How do the children turn back into humans?”

* * *

_“...and they lived happily ever after.”_ Quan finished, gently closing the book. He glanced back over to his daughter. “Altena? Are you sleeping?”

“...’m awake.” She mumbled, opening her eyes. “It was a good story. I can see why I liked it.”

“Do you still not enjoy it?”

“Hm.” Altena sat up, studying her father. “You’re a swan,” she announced.

“...What?”

“You’re a swan, and I’m like the father in the book. I left someone who loved me to be with my family. And I don’t regret it.” Crossing her legs, she grinned at him. “Imagine that. Quan of Leonster, a simple swan in a lake. You have to get saved by your own child.”

“Hey! Am I not the father figure here!?”

“You would be if you weren’t too chicken to go flying with me today. Looks like I’ll have to turn you into a swan to get you to enjoy the sky with me. Maybe I’ll ask Micaiah to help.”

“You! I just have a phobia of wyverns, okay!?” Quan sighed. “You know how it is…”

“I do.” Sobering up, Altena hesitantly reached out to pat his shoulder. “But I also think you should at least give them another chance. I promise, they’re not bad at all.” 

“Hngh.” Quan sighed again. “Do you truly promise that?”

“I do.”

“...I’ll walk with you to the stables tomorrow, then. To meet her. Not to ride her ye—” He cut himself off when Altena leaped off her bed to tightly embrace him.

“Thank you.” She said in a small, tight voice, squeezing him.

Slowly, gently, he hugged her back. “No need to thank me. Oh, Altena. I love you very, very much.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

“So, my dear friend.” Eldigan smirked. “I heard something interesting from the table of our children today. Something about ‘Lord Quan the Swan.’”

Quan sighed. “I should’ve known something would go wrong with our bonding moment last night.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been with me on my journey through #fegenweek! Ngl, it was a little stressful trying to churn out a fic everyday, but I had so much fun! And shoutout to mod v on the tumblr account! Your little comments when you reblog my fics are so cute! Thank you so much!


End file.
